Also signing up for director Scherfig's latest is Cara Seymour, whose credits include "The Savages," "Hotel Rwanda" and "Adaptation."

Produced by Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey, "An Education" was developed from an early stage with BBC Films. The film is being financed by James D. Stern's Endgame Entertainment and BBC Films, with Odyssey Entertainment handling worldwide sales.

Scherfig ("Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself") is directing from Hornby's script based on a piece of memoir by British journalist Lynn Barber.

Billed as a coming-of-age drama set in early 1960s London, the story centers on a 17-year-old girl whose suburban life is about to be blown apart by the arrival of a thirtysomething playboy.

Executive producers are James D. Stern and Endgame Entertainment's Douglas E. Hansen and Wendy Japhet, and David M Thompson and Jamie Laurenson for BBC Films.